One of the top cornerback prospects in the country is now in the fold for Gamecock football.

Cornelius (N.C.) Hough four-star Mark Fields verbally committed to South Carolina on Saturday during an unofficial visit to campus in Columbia.

The 5-foot-10, 186-pounder is ranked by Rivals.com as the ninth-best cornerback prospect nationally. He sits just outside the Rivals100 as number 101 in the Rivals25, ranking the best 250 high school prospects in the country.

"I decided to make it when I got there," Fields told GamecockCentral.com. "I was called up to Coach Spurrier's office and let him know that's what I wanted to do. He was real excited. He talked with my mom for a little bit and said he was glad to have me aboard."

Fields earned scholarship offers from Alabama, Clemson, Mississippi, North Carolina, NC State, Ohio State, Tennessee, and Wake Forest and picked up his offer from USC last summer after camping in Columbia. He was recruited to USC by offensive line coach Shawn Elliott and defensive backs coach Grady Brown. His level of comfort with USC's defensive coaches and scheme made a big difference.

"That was just the best fit for me. I liked the way Coach Brown was going to use me. I'm going to be able to play everything in the secondary from cornerback to nickel to safety," he said. "Their defense is similar to a lot of the stuff I ran on defense. I have some really good coaches. Some of the stuff we did was advanced. When it comes to me knowing about defense, I'm advanced. Of course, it's a lot more stuff there. I just felt comfortable."

The North Carolina product said that he could visit Southern California and a couple other programs at some point but that he was "100 percent Gamecock."

Fields plans on playing early in Columbia and hopes that he can make an immediate impact. He broke down his first goal:

"To be first team All-SEC and just to have a breakout season my first year and start making a name for myself from the first game in 2015 when we play Chapel Hill in Bank of American Stadium out here," he said.